“There are many cases where products are pushed through despite knowing they will fail in clinical trials, or products that quickly fade after reaching the market. Bio ventures often lack dedicated clinical strategy teams, so they don’t understand market demand. We serve as a bridge to fill these gaps in new drug R&D. We provide comprehensive consulting services that encompass the entire growth strategy, including toxicity evaluation, manufacturing, and investment tailored to our clients’ new drugs.”
Co-CEO Minkeun Jo emphasized this during an interview with Money Today on the 19th at BXPLANT’s headquarters in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. After working 16 years as a marketing expert at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, he joined forces with Co-CEO Heesun Kim, who built 20 years of clinical experience at the same company, to establish BXPLANT, a CDRO (Contract Development and Research Organization) and scalerator company, in January of this year.
CEO Jo stated, “Korea’s bio ecosystem is heavily focused on research, and many ventures don’t understand market demand well. BXPLANT provides solutions that encompass both CDRO services and corporate growth support.”
Comprehensive Clinical Development Strategy
CDRO is a comprehensive business that extends beyond traditional CRO (Contract Research Organization) services to include clinical development strategy. While CROs set up clinical sites and oversee new drug projects, CDRO participates from the earlier stage of establishing overall clinical strategy. Bio ventures often lack dedicated clinical strategy departments, or if they exist, they typically have fewer than 10 staff members. Consequently, many cases involve leaving most clinical trial procedures to external CROs while remaining passive observers.
BXPLANT positions itself as the ‘clinical division’ for these bio companies. CEO Jo built marketing capabilities over 16 years at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, leading the planning of major products such as ‘Ursa’ and ‘Gasmotin.’ Co-CEO Kim is also a clinical field expert who oversaw the development and clinical trials of products including ‘Fexuclue,’ ‘Enblo,’ and ‘Nabota’ at Daewoong Pharmaceutical for 20 years. Based on their specialized experience in each area, the two CEOs aim to support not only new drug development but also corporate growth for bio ventures. As of July, 20 employees, including the two co-CEOs, are working at the company. The company is also recruiting additional specialized personnel for each clinical stage, divided into investigator-initiated trials, approval trials, and late-stage trials from Phase 2a to Phase 3.
Addressing Market Demand Gaps
Bio ventures often fail to shine even after bringing new drugs to market due to insufficient preliminary demand assessment. Co-CEO Kim noted, “Global big pharma companies intensely consider and decide on future processes even before entering clinical trials, but domestic bio ventures struggle with strategy formulation due to personnel shortages. BXPLANT provides consulting support from initial clinical development planning to toxicity evaluation, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control), CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization), and regulatory authority licensing.”
Above all, Co-CEO Kim points out that domestic bio companies tend to start new drug development with only technology transfer as their goal. With not a few cases of material returns and no strategy after technology transfer, their response capabilities are insufficient. Co-CEO Kim stated, “Don’t aim only for technology transfer; consider collaboration with the partner company afterward. The partner company may employ a ‘cabinet strategy’ (purchasing a competing drug and then neglecting to develop it), so you must discuss the overall plan for the new drug and continuously request data.” BXPLANT plans to expand its scope by securing technology transfer specialists and directly conducting related businesses in the future.
Future Growth Plans
BXPLANT plans to put its CDRO business on track over the next two to three years while fully launching its ‘scalerator’ role. This is a growth support system that discovers companies and helps them scale by connecting them with government support projects, facilitating investment attraction, technology commercialization, and providing fundraising consulting. CEO Jo stated, “We plan to build trust with clients through CDRO services, accumulate successful references, and expand our investment scale.” The company’s target contract amount for this year is 10 billion KRW, with revenue exceeding 3 billion KRW. Revenue to date is 500 million KRW. The IPO (Initial Public Offering) timing is expected between 2027 and 2029.
AI-Powered Clinical Services in Development
The company is also preparing AI (Artificial Intelligence) new drug services that are attracting recent attention. CEO Jo stated, “For clinical trials, you need to search through vast amounts of research papers and data. We plan to create a ‘ChatGPT for clinical trials’ module that provides this primary protocol. We’re considering a method where clinical protocols are automatically provided when big data is input. We’re in discussions with IT companies aiming for joint development.”
source : ‘Technology Evaluation Expert’ BXPLANT: “Biotech Clinical Success Depends on Macro Strategy—Pharmaceutical Company Perspective Needed”, Hee-yeon Cho, New Daily, 2026.02.03., https://biz.newdaily.co.kr/site/data/html/2026/02/03/2026020300242.html
